Author
Asylum applicants may be detained in the Detention Centre of Menogia or in Police Holding Cells (PHC). Furthermore, a limited number of asylum seekers are at times detained at the holding facilities at Larnaca and Paphos International Airports.[1]
The Detention Centre of Menogia, located in the district of Larnaca, started operating in January 2013 to detain persons under return procedures. However, it is also used for the detention of asylum applicants. The official capacity of Menogia was initially 256 but has been lowered to 128, following recommendations made by monitoring institutions such as the Ombudsman’s Office and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).[2] Since its operation, there have been no issues of overcrowding, however this is due to detainees being held in PHC where conditions are often sub-standard. In the detention centre, asylum applicants are always detained with other third-country nationals as well as EU nationals pending removal.
In addition to Menogia, third-country nationals, including asylum applicants, can also be held in police station holding cells (PHC) around the country, supposedly for short stays but in practice often used for lengthy stays. In 2024, 24 police holding cells were used, with total capacity of 197 persons. [3] In police stations, asylum applicants may also be held with persons detained for committing an offence and awaiting their trial, although they will be accommodated in separate cells. Furthermore, persons detained for serious criminal offences will usually be transferred to the pre-trial unit at the Central Prison once the Court has ordered their detention. Out of the 24 PHC, only 10 have outdoor areas and these 10 PHC have a capacity of 174 persons.
On 26 March 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) delivered its judgment in the case Haghilo v. Cyprus (47920/12) regarding the detention pending deportation of an Iranian national, who had been detained for over 18 months in three police stations. The Court ruled that the applicant’s detention had been unlawfully extended after the expiry of the six-month period. It found that the detention measure was not in accordance with domestic law and, therefore, violated Article 5 (1) ECHR. On the complaint under Article 3, the Court observed that the applicant had been held for a significant amount of time in detention, in police stations designed to accommodate people for a short time only. The buildings lacked the facilities necessary for long detention, such as the possibility of outdoor activity. It noted the specific material conditions of the detention under review, such as the lack of day light, fresh air, and the small size of the cells in each station, detailed in reports provided by experts and the Ombudsperson. Referring to its case law, the ECtHR held that the applicant was subjected to hardship beyond the unavoidable level of suffering inherent in detention and that it amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment prohibited by Article 3.[4
Since 2020, there has been a substantial rise in the use of holding cells. There has been no official justification for the increase of use of police holding cells, however it seems to be due to the lack of space in Menogia. The national Ombudsman acting as National Preventive Mechanism of Torture raised the issue in various reports,[5] the latest being a report in September 2020, based on a monitoring visit of a Pafos police station.[6] The report states, among other things, that holding cells should not be used for purposes of immigration detention and that persons must be transferred to Menogia within 48 hours. No improvement was noted after the issuance of the report.[7] In addition, due to lack of clear procedures with regards to access to asylum or court procedures, there seems to be a delay in responding to requests made by persons expressing their intention to apply for asylum while being detained in a holding cell, or asylum applicants wishing to access the court with the aim of challenging their detention.[8] The situation remains the same in 2024.
The use of PHC was referred to by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) in its 2024 report on Cyprus, stating that “[d]espite repeated recommendations issued by the CPT since its first visit to the country in 1992, Cyprus has continued to use police stations and detention centres for holding irregular migrants under the aliens and immigration law for longer than 24 hours”.[9]
Regarding the holding facilities at Larnaca and Paphos International Airports, the conditions of detention in both holding facilities are considered only acceptable for holding persons for a few hours as repeatedly stated in reports by the national Ombudsman and the CPT.[10] However, in 2024, cases were still reported of persons including asylum applicants being detained at the airports for periods reaching weeks and months.[11] Τhe authorities consider that detainees cannot be moved to another detention facility as they have been refused landing and entry into the territory.[12] In 2024, in a habeas corpus application brought before the Supreme Court challenging the detention of an asylum supplicant detained at Larnaca Airport due to refused entry, the Court found that the detention had been illegal from the submission of an asylum application, as there was no detention order under the Refugee Law and the applicant was denied their rights as an asylum applicant.[13]
[1] CPT, Report to the Government of Cyprus on the visit to Cyprus carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 9 to 17 May 2023, available here.
[2] CPT, Report on the visit to Cyprus from 23 September to 1 October 2013, CPT/Inf (2014) 31, 9 December 2014, available at: https://bit.ly/3xAXtWq.
[3] Information provided by the Cyprus Police.
[4] ECtHR, Haghilo v. Cyprus (Application No.47920/12), 26 March 2019. See summary available at EDAL website at: https://bit.ly/2Uru0Zh.
[5] Reports-Recommendations of the Office of the Commissioner of Administration in its capacity as a National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, File Numbers: Ε.Π.Μ. 1. 02. (4/10/2019), Ε.Π.Μ. 2. 11. (10/10/2019), Ε.Π.Μ. 2.14 (24/07/2019), ΑΥΤ. 2/2020 (04/09/2020) και ΕΜΠ 2.15. (24/09/2020) Εκθέσεις-Εισηγήσεις του Γραφείου Επιτρόπου Διοικήσεων υπό την ιδιότητα ως Εθνικώς Μηχανισμός Πρόληψης των Βασανιστηρίων, Αριθμός Φακέλων: Ε.Π.Μ. 1. 02. (4/10/2019), Ε.Π.Μ. 2. 11. (10/10/2019), Ε.Π.Μ. 2.14 (24/07/2019), ΑΥΤ. 2/2020 (04/09/2020) και ΕΜΠ 2.15. (24/09/2020).
[6] Ombudsman, Report on Police Holding Cells in Pafos, 1 September 2020, available in Greek at: https://bit.ly/3cD8ycF.
[7] Information provided by the Cyprus Refugee Council.
[8] Ibid.
[9] CPT, Report to the Government of Cyprus on the visit to Cyprus carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 9 to 17 May 2023, available here.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ombudsman/Commissioner for Administration, Report on the visit dated 22 November 2024 to the detention area in Larnaca Airport of persons who were not allowed to enter the Republic, 28 November 2024, available in Greek here. See also, Philenews, Commissioner for Administration: Immediate transfer of the African couple detained for two months at Larnaca airport, 28 November 2024, available in Greek here. Alphanews, ‘Images of shame: Detainees locked up for months at Larnaka airport’, 7 March 2025 available in Greek here.
[12] Cyprus Government, Response of the Government of Cyprus to the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on its visit to Cyprus in 2017, available at CPT/Inf (2018) 17.
[13] Supreme Court, Application ΑΡ. 224/2024, 23 January 2025, available here; Philenews, The foreigner who was confined at Larnaca airport is free – What did the Supreme Court decide?, available here.